This is the fifth of a series of podcasts you will summarize as a graded assignment (others are also available for extra credit). You may choose to summarize one of two options: one is on climate anxiety and the other is on how natural selection has made it harder to fight the malaria mosquito, especially in light of climate change.

Your summary should be between 300 and 500 words (1-1.5 pages, 1.5 spaced, Times New Roman) and should include the main points you hear in this podcast. Please include:

1) Three key points;

2) Something that is a novelty for you;

3) The short, take-home message;

3) Your personal take on this podcast.

Podcast link option 1: Feeling Doomed? How to Tackle Climate AnxietyLinks to an external site. | How to Save a Planet

Podcast link option 2: Why Our Brains Don’t Care About Climate Change EnoughLinks to an external site. | The Happiness Lab

Option 1 summary:

“We’re all doomed.” If you’ve ever thought this to yourself while looking down at the remnants of your paper straw floating in your plastic coffee cup (just me?), you may be experiencing climate anxiety. Climate feelings, like anxiety and grief, are on the rise all over the world. And researcher Britt Wray started feeling them herself when she was newly married and started thinking about having children. So she started to study these feelings to learn more about the roots of her climate anxiety, how common it was, and why learning to cope with it is an important step towards taking climate action.

Option 2 summary:

Humans are great at reacting to mortal danger… but only sometimes. Unfortunately, some risks to our safety and wellbeing don’t set off alarm bells in our brains. Climate change falls into that category. Why is that?

Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert explains how some dangers trigger us, and some don’t. In discussion with Dr Laurie Santos, he also outlines ways in which we can be made to care more about threats to the planet and maybe react to them in more positive, happiness-inducing ways.